Monday, September 19, 2016

Dining in the Vestibule

Where to dine if one's home lacks a dining room? According to a few mid-century issues of Connaissance des Arts and House & Garden, the vestibule, that's where.

Thankfully, I have a dining room, so figuring out where to seat my dinner guests is not something I have to worry about. But if one's home isn't blessed with a designated dining area (and that seems to be many apartments and condos these days), hosting a seated dinner in a vestibule or hallway is not a bad option, especially if one's vestibule is the size of the one above, which was located in a 1950s-era Paris apartment.

Based on the photos seen here, it seems that a small square or rectangular table, a coterie of modestly-sized chairs, or a banquette or settee are the most practical ways to furnish a vestibule-cum-dining room. When not in pressed into service as a dining table and chairs, these pieces can be positioned along walls, where they will serve as occasional seating and, in the case of tables, surfaces for display.

Of course, if elaborately-prepared meals are your thing, then there is no reason why you can't serve a four-course meal in your vestibule-dining room. But, in my opinion, a slight space seems to call for less-complicated meals, which require less-complicated though still-elegant place settings. Perhaps soup to start, followed by a Boeuf Bourguignon or Veal Blanquette, and ending with some kind of fruit dessert?

Even if you have a dining room, an adequately-sized vestibule or hall can still be used as a dining area, especially when you're dining à deux- so much cozier than dining at one end of a large dining table.

A dining table placed in a hallway off of a pantry. Billy Baldwin, designer.

In a Manhattan apartment, a garden breakfast room in a hall.

A dining gallery in a Manhattan apartment decorated by Mario Buatta.

In the hall of a New Jersey home, a small round table pressed into service as a dining table.

Dining in the foyer of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Porter's Washington, D.C. apartment.

19 comments:

The photos from these old magazines are so interesting. Some of them are still in style today, but some are on the garish side in light of current tastes.I was very taken by a Russian movie some years ago (1994), Burnt by the Sun. Much of it takes place in a dacha, specifically in the living room/dining room. There are armchairs around a big table, and everybody sits there, sipping tea and talking. I thought, perfect! When you have a dinner party, you want your guests to be comfortable, to linger and chat. Our dining chairs are nicely cushioned, but they aren't quite armchair cozy....yet. And honestly, it's rare that friends come over and don't eat.

Dining in the hall or vestibule can be very pleasant---and an antidote to the dead look of a dining room which is not in use. May I add to your list one of most stylish examples, that of Pierre Delbée's Paris apartment entry hall with its clever table (Jansen) and those outstanding inlaid doors?

In my own apartment (which is my latest blog post) I have a rather smallish dining room and when I have had larger dinner parties I've extended the table INTO the adjacent entryway which has worked well. Luckily my Baker table has a few leaves that goes from a small round (typical configuration) to seat up to 14!

My former nextdoor neighbours would use their wide entrance halls as a dining area. The maisonettes are Interwar. Wing back chairs are very nice. My partner and I spent a delightful Saturday early evening in two such chairs in Eastbourne's Grand Hotel. We had a light supper and Harvey Wallbangers. Medieval campaign chairs are great fun. And they're comfortable.

In France, home of all that is luxe, the dedicated dining room did not make its appearance until quite late in the 18th century. Even Versailles did not have a "dining room" but rather, tables, chairs and accouturements for dining were set up in antechambers, vestibules, guard rooms, etc. for the period of the meal, and then all was whisked away again until the next time. Back to the future...

I have a weird gallery thing between the kitchen and living room that is my dining room. It may have been meant as a sun room as normal dining tables are too wide. Too wide for a corridor, to narrow for a proper room.

Jennifer, This also reminds me of the Veranda magazine house designed by Windsor Smith (now Gwenneth Paltrow's house). Where the dining room was a small dining room/library and the hall way was designed to accommodate larger dinners. I always liked that idea.